Some typical electrical transmission and distribution systems may include some level of monitoring equipment to detect severed powerlines and other anomalies. Typically, such equipment may include head-end line monitoring gear in either or both the transmission space (e.g., where powerline conductors traditionally carry thousands of volts over long distances) or at the substation level (e.g., where higher voltages are often converted to lower voltages prior to distribution to consumers). In addition, in some circumstances, “smart” meters installed at the customer premises may collect data regarding voltage levels, power consumption, and so on.
Consequently, data regarding the current operational status of large portions of the transmission and distribution systems tends to be coarse-grained due at least in part to the location of the monitoring gear. For example, in an electrical transmission system, current supervisory control and data acquisition (SCADA) systems may detect when a particular powerline conductor has failed, but the particular location of the failure may be difficult to ascertain due to the expanse over which the conductor may extend. Similarly, due to the potentially large number of branching circuits sometimes involved in a distribution system, determining a particular location or cause of a failure in such a system may also prove to be problematic, possibly requiring a significant amount of time and expense to identify accurately.